‘Former Tory peer accused of submitting false expenses has been formally acquitted after parliament made an unexpected intervention in the case. Lord Hanningfield, who served a jail sentence for expenses fraud in 2011, was accused in Southwark crown court of claiming around £3,300 in House of Lords allowances in July 2013 to which he was not entitled.’

“He was the very embodiment of the flash City trader – a self-made millionaire who rode the wave of the 1980s big bang to become a financial player famed for throwing lavish parties attended by celebrities and leading business figures.”